Memory on Cloth: Shibori Now

Book Description

Shibori is infinitely more than the tie-dye that became well known in the late 1960s. Shaped-resist dyeing techniques have been done for centuries in every corner of the world. Yet more than half of the known techniques-in which cloth is in some way tied, clamped, folded, or held back during
dyeing, to keep some areas from taking color - originated in Japan.

Shibori can be used not only to create patterns on cloth but to turn fabric from a two-dimensional into a three-dimensional object. The word is used here to refer to any process that leaves a "memory on cloth" -a permanent record, whether of patterning or texture, of the particular forms of resist
done. In addition to traditional methods it encompasses high-tech processes like heat-set on polyester (made famous by Issey Miyake's revolutionary pleated clothing), melt-off on metallic fabric, the fulling and felting that make it possible to turn all-natural fabrics into three-dimensional shapes,
weaving resist (in which, for instance, a warp thread can be pulled to gather the cloth to resist dye), and devoree, in which just one part of a mixed fabric is dissolved with chemicals.

Author Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada has been teaching shibori around the world for nearly thirty years, and helped to establish the World Shibori Network and the International Shibori Symposium. She coauthored in 1983 the authoritative Shibori: The Inventive Art of Japanese Shaped-Resist Dyeing, which in
turn inspired many artists to add shibori processes to their repertoire.

The range of vibrant modern art covered in Memory on Cloth is remarkable, and includes work by artists from Africa, South America, Europe, India, Japan, China, Korea, the United States, and Australia in more than 325 stunning photos and illustrations. It encompasses fabric design, wearable art and
fashion, and textile art or various sculptural forms. The work of more than seventy innovative designers including Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, Jurgen Lehl, Jun'ichi Arai, Helene Soubeyran, Genevieve Dion, Asha Sarabhai, Junco Sato Pollack, Ana Lisa Hedstrom, Marian Clayden, and Carter Smith is
presented, and each artist shares details on the processes that they themselves have created, making this an invaluable reference for artists in every field. A number of innovative artists who combine shibori techniques with knitting, weaving, or quilting are also included, suggesting new ways to
combine innovation with more traditional forms. A final section on modern techniques gives extremely detailed information, including dye recipes, on various high-tech processes and the particular methods that individual artists use to achieve certain effects.

As informative as it is inspirational, Memory on Cloth will take its place alongside Wada's earlier work, Shibori, as a definitive text that will help keep shaped-resist dyeing processes a vibrant and important form of modern art.

Features

* More than 325 stunning photos and illustrations
* Encompasses fabric design, wearable art and fashion, and textile art or various sculptural forms
* Covers more than seventy innovative designers
* Includes works by artists from Africa, South America, Europe, India, Japan, China, Korea, the United States, and Australia
* Each artist shares details on the processes that they themselves have created

Praise for Shibori (co-authored by Yoshiko Wada):

"In this age of hyperbole there is great risk in declaring a singular event. Nonetheless one has occurred with the long anticipated publication of Shibori: The Inventive Art of Japanese Shaped Resist Dyeing. Word of this book has long circulated in the inner and outer sanctums of the textile world
with excitement and expectation building. This combination of bilingual, scholarly, creative and resourceful authors has brought us a classic volume . . . A masterful blend of historical material that puts Japanese textiles in context, clearly described and illustrated techniques along with
information and illustrations of contemporary work from Japan and the West make this book an essential acquisition for anyone who proclaims a serious interest in textile dyeing, design, or historic textiles." ?Glen Kaufman, in Surface Design Journal

"Well researched, well written, well organized and well illustrated." ?Crafts Magazine

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful pictures, not for instructions.......2007-01-05

I was hoping for more instructions on how to create shibori pieces...this is not the book for that.

Wow!!.......2006-03-13

This is some book. This goes beyond your normal techniques. It was mindblowing with the endless possibilities for manipulation of all sorts of fabrics.

The best book that's been done about contemporary shibori.......2002-11-15

Shibori is the Japanese word for resist-dyeing. There are three shibori techniques: tie-dye (those Sixties hallucinoform tee-shirts); clamp-resist (being pressed between two boards or tied tightly around a pole), and wax-resist (batik). It is an extremely old technique, perhaps the first to impose upon cloth a pattern that wasn't woven there.

Fragments of shibori-like textiles found in Africa date from as far back as 700 BCE. Purely Japanese textiles date from the Yayoi period (200 BCE-250 ACE). Yayoi people wove garments on portable looms. The making of cloth depended not so much on the mass of the wearer's body as on how the movement of the wearer's body will determine what the loom must do. In Yayoi times weavers used portable loom that could be easily set up by tying one set of warp ends around the waist and the other to a tree. The weaver's body width fixed the width of the fabric. That most Yayoi textiles were about twelve inches wide says much about the size of the Yayois.

Japan did not embrace clothing as an expression of social delineation until the Asuka period (552-645), an era when Chinese crafts, and customs were eagerly imported. Over the centuries, surface designs became steadily more complex as garment silhouettes became steadily more simple. These tendencies merged into the kimono and have stayed there ever since. With the xenophobic policies of the Tokugawa Shogunate, all things foreign were shunned. The Japanese turned inward to their own tastes and aesthetics.

By the Edo period (1600-1868), complex layerings of color, patterns, and resist dyes all contributed to a great culmination of textile design. Into the canons of design came surface complexity ranging from colors so saturated they dazzle the eye to so subtle they are almost indistinguishable. Japanese textile art embraced a dozen or more dyeing techniques, embroidery and appliqué, painted pictures, hammered gold and silver patterns, calligraphy. Out of these chirped an aviary of decor-plum blossoms, pine boughs, flowers on trellises, rice sheaves, snowflakes, paired shells, swallowtail butterflies, quince flowers, waves, interlocked squares, medallions of chrysanthemum and wisteria and gentian, cranes, lightning, hemp leaves, scrolls of peony, woven circles, basket work, fish scales, mountains, clouds, flowing water, waves, checkerboards, circles.

In the wrong hands such a tumultuous vocabulary would end in chaos. But from the great costumes of the Noh to the hundreds of treatises on kimono design to be found in Japanese bookstores and libraries today, there always existed in the Japanese garment imagination a more fundamental quality: drama. It is no surprise to find that the garment's greatest period of elaboration came after it was adopted as the principle costume by groups of itinerant entertainers who evolved into the most enduring of Japanese theatrical styles, the Noh.

The Memory on Cloth story begins after World War II. Before the War, textiles and garments were major engines of Japan's economy-the equivalent of transistor products and autos today. The quaint, consuming, painstaking art of shibori was nearly extinct by the 1960s. Modernity-craving Japanese put their old kimonos into the tansu and bought Missoni and Prada and The Gap. Shibori's spiritual home, in Arimatsu and Narumi on Honshu island, was ignored even by the railways, which built no sidings there. Too few fabric dyers were left to fill a boxcar with goods.

But valiant was the tenacity of the industry. Arimatsu-Narumi's response was to invent. When the market for kimonos dwindled, they made neckties. Even so, by 1972, one of Japan's oldest industries had dwindled to two elderly practitioners. Then along came people like Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada, one of so many artists who bootstrapped ancient crafts out of extinction by globalizing them in the same positive way that world fusion music has globalized innumerable melody forms. Shibori was turned around. Today it is an internationally recognized art form.

It also can be a vibrant modern art form. Memory on Cloth features work by artists from Africa, South America, Europe, India, Japan, China, Korea, the USA, and Australia. It encompasses fabric design, wearable art and fashion, and textile art or various sculptural forms. Described are works by more than seventy innovative designers, including Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, Jurgen Lehl, Jun'ichi Arai, Helene Soubeyran, Genevieve Dion, Asha Sarabhai, Junco Sato Pollack, Ana Lisa Hedstrom, Marian Clayden, and Carter Smith. Each artist shares details on the processes they have created, making this an invaluable source of inspiration for artists in fields outside of textile design.

Japan never made a distinction between craft and art. Indeed, even in the West that demarcation arose only over the last few hundred years as a manifestation of the post-Renaissance preoccupation with individuality. In Japan the unity of art and craft was not because Japanese textile makers shunned egocentrism, but because of their tendency to focus on process more than product. The Japanese Zen garden of raked stones is Exhibit A in contemplative surrender to process.

Like so many arts that globalization salvaged at the edge of extinction, shibori inspired a modern revival laden with legend and freighted with technique. The progress of Japanese textiles is stuttery, sitting in place one moment, leaping forward the next, the artists either appropriating or inventing as chance comes calling. The result is a continually evolving collaboration between past and future. Today's mingling of synthetic and natural fibers, organics and metals, hand and machine, are in keeping with the try-anything heritage of the country's garments.

Yoshiko Wada is an endearingly good writer: lucid, logical, tight, to the point. She teaches shibori aesthetics and techniques in her home city of Berkeley, California, and around the world. Thanks to her, shibori was transported to Africa and inspired a vibrant local industry in Mali and other Sahel countries. Of her it can truly be said that the word `shibori' is now an international currency.

Average customer rating:

McCabe comes through again!

JAPANESE TATTOOING NOW BY MICHAEL McCABE

Fantastic Resource for Japanese Tattoos

Michael McCabe is a Master

Japanese Tattooing Now!: Memory And Transition, Classic Horimono To The New One Point Style
Michael McCabe
Manufacturer: Schiffer Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Asian | Regional | History & Criticism | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Pop Culture | Graphic Design | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Fashion | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Beauty & Fashion | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Japanese Tattoo

Bushido : Legacies of the Japanese Tattoo

Tattooing From Japan To The West: Horitaka Interviews Contemporary Artists

Tattoos of the Floating World: Ukiyo-E Motifs in Japanese Tattoo

Of Brigands and Bravery: Kuniyoshi's Heroes of the Suikoden

ASIN: 0764321420

Customer Reviews:

McCabe comes through again!.......2007-04-10

Beautiful tattoos in both eastern and western styles, done by Japanese artists. If Mike puts his name on a book, you can pretty much trust that its going to be a winner.

JAPANESE TATTOOING NOW BY MICHAEL McCABE.......2007-01-05

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN JAPANESE TATTOOS THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU. GREAT PICTURES AND VERY INTERESTING TEXT.

Fantastic Resource for Japanese Tattoos.......2006-01-18

This is a terrific book full of great Japanese tattoos. There are tons and tons of photos and cool ideas. If you are thinking about getting a tattoo and like classic images, this is well worth it.

Michael McCabe is a Master.......2005-09-28

Michael McCabe is by far one of the finest cultural anthropologists our generation has seen. His experience as a professional tattooist and his ability to tell a wonderful story make his books both relevant and enjoyably readable---which is not always the case with the THOUSANDS of published books that are supposedly about the tattoo culture.

I buy EVERYTHING and ANYTHING with his name on it, and I've never been disappointed.

Average customer rating:

don't buy!
Inpirational
Good Reference
Great for inspiring fashion illustrators
Great illustration ideas

Fashion Illustration Now
Laird Borrelli
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Drawing | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Fashion | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Commercial | Fashion | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Drawing | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0810991233

Book Description

Fashion illustration is hot. More and more, the most arresting visual images seen today are not photographed, they are stylishly drawn. This smart, sophisticated, trendsetting book showcases the work of 29 of the world's top fashion illustrators-an international galaxy of talent whose evocative illustrations often seem to define what is hip and contemporary.

The artists, who include Ruben Alterio, Mats Gustafson, Jean-Philippe Delhomme, and Jeffrey Fulvimari (the illustrator of Madonna's The English Roses), are divided stylistically into three groups: Sensualists (who work in the fine arts tradition with paint, ink, woodblocks, and stencils, and who concentrate as much on the process of illustration as the subject); Gamines & Sophisticates (whose work is figurative and who use caricature and cartooning to create characters and comment on behavior); and Technocrats (those wizards of computer-generated art who are exploring the limits of illustration's newest frontier). Together, these illustrators are revitalizing the marriage of art and fashion in the new millennium.

Customer Reviews:

don't buy!.......2006-01-28

This books illustrations are dated and not very good. I only bought it because I seen, " Fashion Illustration Next" in the bookstore and thought it was great. I went on amazon to find it and this looked cheap to add so I did thinking it would be equally as impressive. I got it today, and am returning it today. Unless you are really interested in how much fashion illustration has progressed within the last 6 years buy the new edition, and leave this one in the discount bin.

Inpirational.......2006-01-28

Its such a wonderful book. I am a fashion major and its nice to see other people's fashion illustration. I have struggled to find my own drawing style and this book has definately helped open my creativity.

Good Reference.......2005-01-28

Although, this book may just seem like a pretty picture book, it is a really good reference if you're trying to discover a style/technique of illustrating. As a fashion major, this book comes in handy to see how other artists approach the figure and to learn a variety of ways to illustrate instead of referring to the same textbook croqui.

Great for inspiring fashion illustrators.......2004-06-29

Okay so it took me FOREVER to find and buy this book only to find out its the samd as Borrelli's Stylishly Drawn...and I mean EXACTLY like it nothings different aobut the 2.

Despite that I love the illustrations in it. They are very very very inspiring and helpful to fashion students and illustrators alike. ENJOY!

Great illustration ideas.......2004-02-17

I'm currently trying to create my own fashion portfolio for entry into university, the problem with me is i usually have tons of wonderful ideas, but because i'm a complete beginner my presentation skills and methods are limited. This book enlightened me on many kinds of media i could explore with.
This book gave me numerous ideas, and i always return to the book for more inspiration whenever i feel stuck.

Book Description

Chic, sexy, and sophisticated, Femme Fatale pays tribute to a century of feminine glamour. Invoking not only iconic beauties like Jean Harlow, Brigitte Bardot, and Marilyn Monroe but also the looks that defined each decade from the 1900s to the new millennium, celebrity stylist Serge Normant crafts clothes, setting, hair, and makeup to transform today's most beautiful women. He re-creates Julia Roberts as Louise Brooks, and Cindy Crawford as a forties glamour goddess, a savvy paparazzi-stalked nineties superstar, and a twenties ingenue. Elizabeth Hurley frolics as a flower child and vamps as Mata Hari. Isabella Rossellini is a curvaceous fifties pinup and an eighties punk. And Britney Spears exudes all the poise of Grace Kelly.

This lavish exploration of fashion history, imagination, and stylish beauty carries with it Bridget Foley's cultural survey of each decade—from social and political issues to art movements and key style makers. Beauty, fashion, celebrity, and photography mavens will all love Femme Fatale—and so will every woman who has ever fantasized about looking like a star.

Text by Bridget Foley

Photography by Michael Thompson

Customer Reviews:

Chic but not fatal........2003-10-28

This book presents beautiful pictures of famous and enticing modern women: but to call them "femmes fatales" would be to mischaracterize them.

By definition, the term "femmes fatales" was coined to gorgeous women whose actions were detrimental or harmful to their men or partners. Thus, in real life a woman could be gorgeous without being fatal, or vice versa, she could be fatal without being exceptionally gorgeous. Cleopatra was one such woman, who although not extraordinarily beautiful, was able to charm two Roman generals and to lead them to their downfall.

Although hairstyle was an important component of a woman's appearance, it was certainly not the unique feature of a person. Her eyes, smile, demeanor, sleek appearance, and clothing also played important roles. Therefore, to reduce a woman's character to her hairdo, as the hairstylist-author had suggested, was to overly simplify the matter.

The women photographed in the book were certainly "chic," although not necessarily "fatal."

dissapointing.......2003-05-10

Because of the title The Femme Fatale, Famous Beauties Then and Now, I was expecting a sort of photographic history book. I would be very interested in seeing how the image of a Femme Fatale has changed over the years, from the glamourous pencil browed vixens of the 1920's to the much more volupt modern beauties. (Think pulp fiction novel cover vs. Catherine Zeta Jones) I would have liked to read up on how even though what is considered beautiful (and dangerous) has changed, the character of the Femme Fatale predominates our culture, in literature and film.
I really got the wrong book. Instead of what I was expecting, this book features celebrities made over to appear like they would in different time periods, and the photos are high quality, oversized and printed on slick glossy paper. Some of the transformations are very well done (the girl on the front cover is Julia Roberts, believe it or not) So the book is not without merit, but they could have done a lot more.
If I wanted to see pictures of Britney Spears, I'd just read People magazine.

I just HAD to have it!.......2002-10-28

I have been a fetish model for almost two years, and a close photographer friend and myself are kicking off a new project which showcases high end fetish photographs. While my husband was searching for a poetry book in a Barnes and Nobles store, I snuck to the photography section to see if I could be inspired for this new peoject. My eye fell on this book immediately. I looked at no other book! The photographs are simply too beautiful for words, and I was heartbroken by the cover price... Reluctantly, I put it back on the shelf. When I came home however, I searched your site immediately and found a used copy in mint condition .... Obviously, I was nothing less than thrilled!

This book is based on the photography of hair, and showcases original photographs from the 1800's as samples. Serge Normant then re-creates these by using well known models and celebraties of today, dressing them in period clothing, changing their looks dramatically.

If you are a hairdresser, model, or photographer, you MUST own this book!

Great Idea, mediocre execution.......2002-03-08

Much, if not all this material has been published elsewhere, so you may have seen it. However, it has not been presented together organized around the interesting concept that Julia Roberts, Elizabeth Hurley, Susan Sarandon, Britney Spears and a host of beautiful women are paying homage to women of a previous age. (Yes, that Britney Spears).

In an interview with a French magazine, the photographer described himself as awed or intimidated when Susan Sarandon showed up. He only relaxed when she took charge and he just responded to what he saw. The mutual respect shown by the professionals on both sides of the camera is what makes these images good.

This is not just a catalog of beatiful pictures of contemporary icons playing dress up. If it is authentic it makes a convincing statement about the power and stature of these famous modern women and a lot of not so famous all around us.

If you know a young woman who wants to be in the next book like this, show it to her. I have handed it to several young women I've photographed recently. "Oh, my God! Britney Spears is beautiful." "That can't be Claudia Schiffer." "Elizabeth Hurley scares me!" Isabella Rossellini as Betty Page is the show stopper, however.

The photography is as good as it gets, but the material added to hang it all together weakens the book. Some of it is completely contrived and bogus.

Next time let the women and the photographer do their work and let the readers draw the conclusions. Meanwhile a lot of wannabe photographers and young models have some catching up to do.

Thank you, Michael Thompson........2002-02-08

Serge Normant may have been the creator of the styles pictured within, but it's the aritisty of the photographer Michael Thompson that's truly responsible for the incredible images in this book. Thompson is, perhaps, the most talented of current fashion photographers, but he's also the most overlooked by all but those "in the industry." He's classic, and contemporary, and as versatile as Meisel or Demarchelier. He may not be as well known as his contemporaries, but that's because he lives a quiet life in Pennsylvania, and stays out of the limelight.

Book Description

The iconic British style magazine i-D once again brings you a guide to the world's most important designers. From the biggest players in the international fashion industry including Karl Lagerfeld, John Galliano, and Marc Jacobs, to emerging names such as Kim Jones and Tess Giberson, to streetwear and sportswear brands A Bathing Ape, Nike, Diesel and Silas, Fashion Now II is a comprehensive survey of today's best designers.

Expanded from the previous edition, Fashion Now II is illustrated with the very best fashion photography and styling, extracted from shoots in the archives of the magazine that celebrates its 25th birthday this year. Also included are an introduction by i-D founder and editor-in-chief Terry Jones, and in-depth essays on the issues that are shaping fashion today: the fashion show system, the precarious position of the celebrity designer, and the rise of menswear. Fashion Now II is an encyclopedia of fashion personalities, a portfolio of amazing imagery, but most of all, a snapshot of the fast-changing contemporary fashion world, as seen through the lens of one of the best-loved magazines published today.

Customer Reviews:

Good Relationship Price - Quality.......2006-11-27

I knew about fahion books published by Taschen during a Fashion Course I took last Summer in Italy. I got this one and another titled Fashion History and let me tell you that they offer really great books considering their price, quality, photos and the information presented about the topic.
This book contains a summary of the biographies and work of the most renowed Fashion Designers and the emerging talent on the Fashion Industry. I suggest to keep it not only as a reference book but also as a guide for further research.

one of the best!.......2006-02-13

this is one of the best fashion books out there. a breif discription of all the best designers in the industry. a good reference to keep.

Average customer rating:

Photos where the clothes don't dominate the image, but they are never overshadowed either
gorgeous collection for the fashion avant garde

Fashion Photography Now
Catherine Chermayeff
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Fashion | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Photo Essays | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0810927128

Product Description

Fashion photography seeks out the voyeur in all of us...It plays with our dreams, Chermayeff notes. And in Fashion Photography Now,the mystery, fantasy, cultural diversity, desire and oddity of her photographs make her statement true. The photos in this book capture the mood and the moment of fashion photography. 100 photographs in full color, 160 pp., 8 x 8 (21 x 22.2cm), Softbound.

Customer Reviews:

Photos where the clothes don't dominate the image, but they are never overshadowed either.......2006-07-20

This is a collection of photos where the emphasis is on the fashion and yet the clothes on the people do not dominate the image. Sometimes the emphasis is on what the people are doing, other times it is on the other objects in the photo and sometimes the person the clothes are covering. And yet, the clothing still manages to be a significant component of the image. Those characteristics make the best fashion photographs, which these certainly are. I looked through it and was impressed with the appearance of each person and their clothes, independent of whether they were in fact wearing them.

gorgeous collection for the fashion avant garde.......2000-12-27

Shying away from the standard sort of fashion photography (read: flawless and posed) seen in most collections, this book compiles fabulous work by both prominent and up and coming photographers. Pulling shots from the pages of international magazines, as well as a handful of unpublished works, Chermayeff has presented a myriad of lovely contemporary images. The paper stock used is fantastic, the color saturation first-rate. Whether for the rabid fashionista, the art collector, or the photography buff, this tome makes a stylish gift. Those with an eye for photography can see that these phtotgraphers will be the Irving Penn's, the Horst's, and the Scavullo's of the 21st century.

Fashion Then and Now (Costumes for Coloring Series)

Average customer rating:

Awesome
Enjoyable book to color
Fun, Fun, Fun!
Fun, Fun, Fun
Fun for Any Age

Fashion Then and Now (Costumes for Coloring Series)
Kate Braungart
Manufacturer: Price Stern Sloan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | History & Historical Fiction | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0448414783

Customer Reviews:

Awesome.......2007-08-07

This book is everthing and more of what I enjoy about coloring as a avid adult coloring person. Every print has a lot to offer your imagination plus it offers on the back of each page the information about each style of the year it was wore. You can spend hours enjoying this book. Teen to adults would enjoy.

Enjoyable book to color.......2007-07-05

While the artwork may not be the best I've ever seen, it is fairly good. I enjoyed coloring the pictures.

There is a wide range of clothing represented as well as types of young women wearing it.

There is text on the back of each picture, and I liked this factor, since at the time I had not yet gotten acquainted with opaque/gel markers and with regular markers there was bleed through without ruining the next picture.

Fun, Fun, Fun!.......2005-03-28

This book is so great. It takes you through centuries and decades of fashion. Pictures are fantastic. Personally, I thought the paper a little grainy for good coloring, but still worth purchasing, and even re-purchasing! Since I use only colored pencils, the surface of the paper may not be an issue for you if you use different medium. Since there is only one picture per sheet of paper, it's easy to use paint, markers or watercolors as well. One other thing I don't like is that the explanatory note for each picture is on the back of that sheet--it would be nice if it were on the same page, or at least the facing page. Regardless of that trifling detail, this is a fun and exciting book to color. Buy it without hesitation!

Fun, Fun, Fun.......2004-03-13

I love this coloring book! I'm a Vandy student, and my girlfriends and I have spent hours coloring the detailed fashions. It's great stress relief and makes for great fun!!
I highly recommend this book.

Fun for Any Age.......2001-11-14

I have a hundred colored pencils, a nice electric sharpener, the TV in front of me, and I'm as happy as a clam. If you like costume and coloring, and just being pleasantly entertained, you'll love this little book. Such pretty fashions, each with their own little story telling about the period in time, and you're never too old to enjoy a little coloring (well at least I'm not) *smile* have fun!

Average customer rating:

Elizabeth I: Then and Now

Manufacturer: Folger Shakespeare Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Irish | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

General | Fashion | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

History | Fashion | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 029598323X

Book Description

The Folger Shakespeare Library includes among its holdings the largest collection of materials in North America relating to Elizabeth I, including thirty-eight documents signed by the queen. On the occasion of the 400th anniversary of Elizabeth's death in March 1603, the Folger Library mounted an ambitious exhibition of more than one hundred books, manuscripts, and works of art from its collections.

The rich materials in the Folger Library's collection portray Elizabeth in stunning detail, as affectionate stepdaughter and censorious cousin, as humanist prince, as powerful and often capricious patroness, and as a private person. She was the center not only of national culture but also of a vibrant court culture with complex ritual practices such as elaborate New Year's gift exchanges and summertime progresses through the countryside. Her self-fashioning literally involved the use of "fashion." She dressed to be seen; her clothes made a statement about her power as a female ruler and about the stability and strength of her nation. The many portraits of Elizabeth which survive, including the 1579 Sieve portrait featured on the cover, suggest the complex interplay between the queen's politics of self-display and her powerful vanity.

Customer Reviews:

Good pictures and text.......2006-10-03

This book takes us from decade to decade from the 50's to now with an examination of social, cultural, economic, and historical factors both setting the backdrop to and influencing changing fashions. This is an intermediate book in fashion, if you compare it to picture-only books to the other end of the spectrum where text dominates (often no pictures), and we see a treatise on aesthetic theory, anthropological roots, feminist writings, and studies on human sexuality and psychology.

This book is a very light introduction to the type of questions you see in more advanced texts, but will not alienate the dilettante fashionista or costumer. The pictures provide exemplary examples of the styles discussed, and the chapters summarize everything quickly enough to have a solid overview of our recent fashion history. Again, I am sure this book will gain lots of interest, whether for browsing or seriously perusing an interest in a compelling aspect of human history and society. Check Steele's other books as well--she writes with insight, but doesn't overdo it with the dry academic stuff; she also has excellent taste with her picture selection.

Excellent fashion primer for the last 50 years of the 20th C.......2003-11-09

This book has both beautiful photographs and informative text. The only reason I took off one star is that I think more photographs from each designer should have been included. I especially would have liked to have seen a few more photos of clothes from American designers from the 1990s. Throughout the book, the author mostly displays clothes made by European designers. I would not have expected much attention to be focused upon American designers before 1980s or 1990s. Arguably, it was not until the 1990s that American fashion really started to influence Europe, instead of the other way around. Because this reversal of influence was such a change, I would have expected more attention to be paid to it visually. Therefore, the lack of representation in this era makes me think that American designers were somewhat shortchanged in this book. However, I agree that all the designers selected, both European and American, did heavily influence their own time periods.

This book covers Post War 1940s through 1990s. In each era the author focused on a few key designers. The author chose Balenciaga, Balmain, and Dior to represent the 1940s and 1950s. The author primarily showcased Correges, Yves Saint Laurent, and Quant to represent the 1960s. Halston and Yves Saint Laurent were the focus of the 1970s era. More designers are represented in the 1980s. The book has one or two photos from Chanel, Lacroix, Blass, Herrera, Azzedine Alaia, Armani, Gaultier, Comme des Garcon, and Issey Miyake, among a few others. The 1990s are represented by a photo or two of designs from Versace, Anna Sui, Chanel, Tom Ford for Gucci, Galliano, Donna Karen, Westwood, Calvin Klein, and Prada.

Book Description

"Gay style actually sets trends. It’s what straight people take fashion from."--Tony Woodcock

From the New Edwardians and muscle boys to Radical Drag and Genderfuck, gay men’s dress has had a profound impact on fashion. However, it is easy to forget that, with few exceptions, gay men earlier in the century took great pains to conceal their sexual identity. Men such as Quentin Crisp, while highly influential, were far from the norm. Most gay men resorted to a number of subtle dress codes to identify themselves to other gay men -- from Oscar Wilde’s famous green carnation, which was still being worn in the 1930s, through to suede shoes.

Beginning with a look at the subcultural world of gay men in the early part of this century -- particularly in New York and London -- this fascinating book analyzes the trends in dress adopted by gay men as well as the challenge gay style has made to mainstream men’s fashion. The importance of dress choice to the formation of sexual identity is highlighted, as is gay influence on punk and the fashion industry as a whole. The rise of new dress choices in the wake of gay liberation is analyzed with particular emphasis on the masculinization of gay dress. The importance of the body to gay culture is addressed, from the physique magazines of the 1950s, through to tattooing and body piercing, and their origins in the S&M scene.

Anyone interested in gay culture or the history of dress will find this book to be essential reading.

Customer Reviews:

A Complete Picture of Gay Men's Dress.......2002-06-08

I've read the book and have given it to many friends as gifts. For those people who are looking for historical data on our cultural histroy (and there's not much out there that's as good as this!) - THIS is the book that you want.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books